Abstract:The deformation and strength behaviour of Shanghai fine sand is studied through a series of plane strain compression (PSC) tests with different stress paths.The result from the PSC tests shows that the shear strain,volumetric strain,plastic shear strain,plastic volumetric strain and plastic work are all influenced by stress path for Shanghai fine sand.Therefore,none of the above quantities can be used as appropriate hardening parameter for Shanghai fine sand.Based on the experimental results from the PSC tests for Shanghai fine sand,a modified plastic work parameter and the related function are proposed.The proposed parameter and function are independent of stress path,which can be used as the shear hardening state parameter and hardening function in the constitutive modelling for Shanghai fine sand. Key words: Shanghai fine sand; plane strain compression tests; stresspath; hardening parameter; hardening function